Vacation Request Policy

As an organization we value our employees entitlement to taking a vacation leave from work. We believe that taking time away from work for a vacation is an important part of physical, mental, social and family health and individual balance. We encourage our employees to take and enjoy the vacation time they have accrued.

 

1. Vacation Calendar Planning

A company-wide vacation schedule is created twice per year on September 30 and March 30. This calendar serves as a tool for organizational planning purposes. Two weeks prior to these dates all employees will be given an opportunity to submit requests for vacation. Note:
No employee is required to make a request for vacation at these times.

• Employees are able to make requests for vacation at other times in the year.
• Employees may request vacation up to 12 months in advance.
• Employees may make vacation leave requests based on vacation hours that will be accrued up to the date reflected in the vacation request

 

2. Calendar Restrictions

Due to the nature of our business certain employees or roles are not eligible to take vacation during specified periods of time. Please refer to your employment contract for details of any restrictions. If you must take vacation during these restricted times you may make a special request. Note that we may not be able to accommodate any vacation requests during this period.

 

3. Vacation Request Conflicts

Vacation requests made outside the vacation calendar windows (October to March and April to September) will be managed on a first come first serve basis. In the case of a conflict in vacation period request from two or more employees received at the same time priority approval will be granted to the employee with the most seniority.

 

4. Duration of Vacation

Vacation may be taken in intervals of no less than________ and no more than _____ (for example 1 hour and 4 weeks in a row). If seeking approval for vacation leave of more than 4 weeks in a row a special request must be submitted through an employee’s direct supervisor to senior administration. Note that it may not be possible to grant a vacation leave of more than 4 weeks.

 

5. Requesting Approval

All requests for vacation leave must be submitted in writing (email is appropriate) to an employee’s direct supervisor a minimum of X weeks (for example two weeks) prior to the first date of the requested vacation period. This request must include the proposed start and end dates and total number of days/hours being requested.

It is the employee’s responsibility to first confirm that the required vacation hours have been accrued or will be accrued prior to the vacation start date before making the request.

The supervisor will present the request with approval or non-approval recommendation to a senior department manager (insert your hierarchy here) for final approval. This request must include the employees name, job title, department, employee ID, name of direct supervisor, duration of the vacation leave and the start and return dates.

In the event a direct supervisor is absent the request may be submitted directly to the supervisor’s supervisor or manager following the same request process.

Every effort will be made to approve an employee vacation request within 3 business days.

 

6. Vacation Restrictions

The final approval for a vacation request is at the discretion of management. As a result of scheduling conflicts or workload a manager may turn down a request for vacation.